Information Technology professionals are faced with unprecedented challenges caused by complex network infrastructures demanding high availability and performance. Tools for managing networks are increasingly important as infrastructures become more complex, organizations are exposed to higher risk and visibility, and business dynamics demand around-the-clock network availability.
Network devices such as routers and switches collect network performance data in the form of “management information bases” (MIBs). These MIBs often vary from vendor to vendor, although there are a few standard MIBs. In general, however, network performance metrics are gathered using varying techniques and in different formats. It can be difficult to utilize such disparate data to effectively diagnose network performance problems. Accordingly, there exists a need for a real-time network monitoring system that collects and normalizes network performance data from a variety of separate sources to facilitate unified management of the network.